The Vermont Connection Volume 23 Article 6 January 2002 Keeping Secrets: Student Secret Societies in Historical Context Jennifer Domagal Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Domagal, Jennifer (2002) "Keeping Secrets: Student Secret Societies in Historical Context," The Vermont Connection: Vol. 23 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol23/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education and Social Services at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in The eV rmont Connection by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Keeping Secrets: Student Secret Societies in Historical Context Jennifer Domagal1 Secret societies have long been part of the tapestry of American higher education. They have, however, remained largely unexamined and unspoken of, as if their existence itself is a secret. This article explores the contextual development of secret societies within the academy. The role of secrecy in the development of the first student organizations is outlined and examples of current societies are discussed. As student affairs professionals, it is imperative that we understand this historical context, namely the dangers of institutional paternalism and secrecy, in order to create a current conception of the status and influences of secret societies on our campuses. Secret Societies Officially, extracurricular activities have played a major role in undergraduate student culture at institutions of American higher education since the mid to late 1800’s, when college and university officials finally began to recognize, approve of, and even encourage student involvement outside of a strictly academic arena (Rudolph, 1990).